Jobs cull planned to cut Scope’s deficit

Scope plans to cut jobs and save £2m to stop its budget
deficit rising to nearly £8m this year.

An e-mail sent to staff in September, seen by Community Care,
said there was a “real possibility” it would end 2005-6 with a
shortfall of nearly £8m.

The message from the charity’s executive management board said:
“We will need to find £2m savings from our employment cost.
This will require a number of measures and will mean that there
will be some redundancies.”

Job cuts will not come from front-line services or among staff
who work in the organisation’s shops.

The e-mail stated that the situation was the result of
“long-term underinvestment in our services, our management and
infrastructure”, and warned there would be “no quick fixes”.

The charity had forecast a deficit of £5.6m, which was
endorsed by its trustees, but the e-mail said “further slippage” in
the deficit “cannot continue”.

“We must take action now to reverse the financial trend for the
year,” it added.

A Scope spokesperson said redundancies would primarily be in
administrative areas, although the exact numbers and roles were yet
to be agreed, adding: “These will not have a detrimental impact on
our front-line services.”

Scope has already faced criticism this year over its decision to
sell land in Cardiff on which flats were built for disabled people.
The land was expected to sell for £2.25m.

It is overspending in areas such as pensions, which is
£1.7m over budget, and management costs.